Missing Cold
by raven2547
Summary: AU When dark is without the cold, it creates a very unbalanced and upset world.
1. Chapter 1

**i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry. i really wanted to write this thing even though i already have little jack waiting to be written... sorry... **

**AU. all will be revealed either in the story or at the author's note at the end (if you are confused, pm me or leave the question in your review. if you have an account, i can answer the question)**

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Night wasn't supposed to be this long.

Well, technically, North thought, it was always dark in the North Pole. But all around the world the sun had been blotted out (along with the moon at night) with terrifying, menacing black clouds that lurked overhead. They covered every inch of the sky and struck fear deep into the hearts of the children of the world. The Guardian of Wonder gazed at the giant globe in his viewing room. Thin tendrils of black shadows crept from the corners of the sphere and spiraled outward, inward, all over the place.

"Pitch... what have you done?" Toothiana breathed as she flew to the top of the world. The gloom in the sky naturally made everyone tired faster, and people gradually had started going to bed earlier in the hopes that the next day would bring sunshine. Scientists and meteorologists were baffled-by all accounts nothing was really _wrong_ with the environment. In America, it was mid-December and even in the northern-most point of Maine there hadn't been the hint of a snowflake. Why, just last week there had been two feet of snow... but that was all gone. Melted into thick mounds of mud and sludge on the side of the road.

"What's gone and crawled up his arse?" Bunnymund hopped out of one of his tunnels. He hopped over to stand by North while Toothiana entered through the window. In the distance they could see the wing of Sandy's plane coming into view.

"There could only be one thing, my friend," North said, rubbing his beard.

"Well, where's that little mate of his? The pale one; white hair and such? They're a scary pair together but neither has caused much trouble in all the time I've been around..." the rabbit trailed off, realizing the problem himself. Pitch was one of the oldest immortals in the world, followed very narrowly by Jack Frost, the bringer of Winter, and then Sandy. Later had come Tooth, then Santa popped up around about seventeen hundred years ago... then Bunny about six hundred years ago. As soon as Bunnymund came into existence, he had been told of the duo of Cold and Dark. They weren't evil, really, MiM explained. Fear was necessary for survival, and Jack Frost became fear's friend out of loneliness and commonalities.

In short, they were basically made for each other.

Bunny had only met Pitchiner once. He was a grey man, not very happy, and had the strangest shadows following him around-including a young boy with hair the color of the moon at its fullness and skin that lit up the night. The child looked... dead. Come to think on it, he probably was dead, Bunny thought. MiM hadn't always been kind. He knew that Tooth had also been made from a dead woman (a witch in training, if he could believe that) who had died of a sickness. It was actually pretty plausible that underneath all her feathers and grandeur she was just as pale or grey as Pitch and Jack.

Jack himself was actually a mystery. Never had Bunnymund seen him set foot on the ground, preferring to float above it (even if only by millimeters). Jackalope had given him the 4-1-1 on the Winter Spirit. Apparently, when humans first started roaming the earth was when Jack first popped up. Nobody knew how he came to be, only that as soon as he began life he froze the entire world. Mortals called this period the 'Ice Age', which was very creative of them, Bunny must say. Many species went extinct or migrated all around the world.

Centuries passed in this cold time until the other seasons were created. MiM must have needed some more energy or something; Jack really had made a giant snowball of a planet. Eventually the snow melted in most places, bar the poles and those areas in their vicinity. Finally people could take some root where they were and live their lives. During this transition era, Pitch had taken notice of Jack and they had since never left each other. Rarely could you see one without the other-if you saw either at all. They didn't like to be seen... or at least, not seen. It was no secret that Jack had likely never had any believers and all of Pitch's few had died out.

They were all each other had, really. It was kind of heartwarming, but wholly sad.

The problem at hand was that there was absolutely no snow in the world besides those regions that had it year-round. The ground was bare where winter was meant to touch it, but hadn't. There was only one thing to do. They would have to contact the pair.

"Oh alright, bugger. Who knows, maybe they've finally snapped," Bunny joined in on the battle plan, finally, after being lost in his thoughts. It wasn't a battle plan, per se, but they did have to break into the Black Ice fortress. True to its name, it was nearly impossible to see if you weren't concentrated on looking for it and it really only appeared in the coldest region on the planet-the South Pole.

The three Guardians loaded up, minus Bunny because _no he was not getting on the sleigh, never again, damn it, North_. They met up in the middle of Antarctica. It was a very pretty name for a very... unique place. White was one word that came to Bunny's mind; naked was another, followed by death. To each his own, though.

Each of them shivered with the freezing cold, their immortal status keeping them just on the cusp of warmth. Just beyond their line of vision they could see the outline of a dark spire, stark against the snowy backdrop.

"Well, onward, friends. All aboard the sleigh," North cried, fearlessly. He loaded himself back inside and the others, including Bunny, followed suit. The rabbit clung to the guardrail in fear while they headed to the castle at top speed.

* * *

Pitch angrily threw a vase into the wall, watching, pleased when it shattered on impact. He took a double take and moaned his misery when he realized it was one of Jack's favorite Ming vases... not the shitty canopic jars those damned Egyptians used to incorporate in their burial rituals. A silly mistake; they didn't look a thing alike. Funny what grief does to you. The Boogeyman stretched out his shadows and they tenderly mended the destroyed piece of art.

Their castle was bleak and empty without his partner. No longer did it sparkle with white light backed with his dark shadows... now only the black remained. It was depressing. So much like those horrible days from long ago when he'd been all alone. Before Jack...

_Why_ did Jack have to leave? What possible reason could he have for abandoning their home? His cheerful companion had never said a thing about leaving, merely about going to bring a white Christmas to the northern hemisphere Pitch didn't think anything of it, intending to stay at home this once to catch up on some pop culture-had to find out what those kids were afraid of somehow, right? Of course, Jack hadn't returned. A day went by and all was well. Two went by, all was suspicious... Three... Four... Five... and now they were coming up on a complete cycle since he'd seen the spirit last. Half a fortnight had passed since they'd slept side by side in their home.

Seven long, heart wrenching days had passed since he'd so much as touched _anyone._

What was that God-awful screeching noise? It sounded like nails on a chalkboard... or iron on glass. Outside the (terribly unfrosted) windows was St. Nicholas' sleigh. It contained not one, not two, not three, but _four_ Guardians of Childhood. What could they possibly wan- oh. Oh yes, he had been spreading nightmares all across the globe, hadn't he? The hellish creatures were doing his bidding, searching for the lost Jack. Such lovely creatures, Jack always said. Never afraid of them.

"How dare you intrude on my home?" Pitch screamed at the four, slouching slightly even as his shadows stretched long across the floor, waiting for his command. _Just say the word_ they seemed to whisper _and we'll get rid of them_...

"Pitch," the Toothfairy started, and where did she get the gaul to address him without answering his question?

"Where is Frost, you bugger? You're causin' a whole lotta fright up north and we don' like it. Not one bit, mate," E. Aster Bunnymund stepped in. While there was no bad blood between the two parties, there was still the deep unsettlement from each others' presence that neither would admit to. The uncomfortableness was brought on by years of separate agendas, different schedule... differing views. It was by no means disconnected or hateful, but cordial was the most Pitch would ever give their relationship.

"He has... disappeared. Not to worry, though. I have sent my minions throughout the world looking for him. Have you not seen him, then?" The pale man cast them woefully despondent eyes. They were filled with exhausted hope, just barely holding on. It was a very desperate expression, actually. The Guardians hadn't seen the likes of it on the King's face in their lives. He certainly showed his age now, if only in those eyes.

"I'm afraid we have also not seen your... partner, Pitch," Claus started, tentatively urging the conversation past this awkward point.

Pitch recoiled from them, "You are of no use to me then!" he cast them a dark wave the didn't get anywhere near them thanks to Sandy. The diminutive man flashed symbols above his head as he floated quickly over to Pitch, communicating rapidly.

"A deal, you say? What kind?... Yes, yes I think I could manage to hold back the nightmares... That remains to be seen, Sandman. I have no idea where Jack is or in what condition he is being kept in... You would need to move quickly, it is already the twenty-second... Agreed."

Sandy turned to the others and hustled them out the door with wide arcs of his sand encircling them while Pitch retreated to the upper levels of the Shadow Realm. They could already see the dark clouds reducing slowly, conforming over the towers into a massive blob of black.

Outside, Sandy wasted no time in pushing Bunny to open a tunnel to the North Pole, then pushing the sleigh down it to North's protests.

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When they all met in the observation room again, Sandy quickly explained his plan. It was like playing charades most of the time, but they got through it eventually.

"So you made a deal with Pitch so he'll call off those clouds and the 'mares, and keep them at a reasonable rate, if we can find Jack... but you also gave us the bonus of getting North a white Christmas-without a complete blizzard-and Bunny a snow-free Easter if we succeed. Did I get it all?" Tooth looked up at everyone's surprised faces.

"What? I spend the most time with Sandy. After all, we run into each other quite often while running across the world every night," she huffed and crossed her arms.

"Where do we start looking?"

* * *

Jack breathed deeply through his mouth, staring up at the still cloudy sky. As soon as it turned dark hours ago he'd known that Pitch was missing him. The clouds were leaving though... did that mean that he had given up already? No. Pitch wouldn't abandon him. They'd been together too long. You don't toss away thousands of years for... for... what was he saying?

The icy spirit wiped his brow with the arm of his sweatshirt. It was so hot. You couldn't really avoid going through the equator when you were the spirit of Winter; everywhere needed snow sometimes. Usually he had Pitch transport him through those nifty shadows of his... but not this time. Of course the one time he went alone everything would go to hell.

The wind couldn't reach him here. It was too dry, too thick in the air for the wind to lift more than the leaves. Jack was stranded on this stupid beach, hot sand and all. Why oh why couldn't anyone see him? All he needed was to be thrown in the icebox for a couple hours and he could fly home to Pitch. Screw winter in this place ever again! They didn't deserve his beautiful snow.

Jack heaved a big breath, watching a few grains of sand blow away in the desperately swishing wind. It was trying, really it was. He'd been here for a few days, at least two anyway. The dark clouds had helped kind of, blocking out the sun and whatnot. It was still boiling hot. Balmy sixty-two degrees. Downright volcanic, if you asked him. He was starting to get tired, though. All he could think about was how nice it would be to just be cold. Cold. In a preferably dark space, too. With Pitch. Pitch always made things better. One time they'd buried themselves in a big pile of snow in the Alaska, near the Bering Sea (one of Jack's favorite spots, though he couldn't remember why) and Pitch had made it so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. They watched the stars forever it felt like.

Sighing again, Jack resigned himself to dying hot and alone, surrounded by sand and air whipping through his hai-wait! His eyes snapped open and his head snapped from side to side. It was true! He was in the air! The wind was brushing through his white locks excitedly, no doubt thankful for his continued existence. It wasn't carrying him though, it hadn't the strength just moments ago. Who, then, had him...

The spirit of winter turned his head to the left and saw both the Sandman and Toothfairy waving gently at him, picking up his feet and placing them in buckets full of glorious ice water and snowballs. Nick St. North himself was piloting the giant sleigh they were in. Where, then, was the last of their brood? The rabbit. Jack looked around at the dark space around him, closing in from all directions-the rabbits tunnels. Of course. Where were they taking him? All he wanted was to go home, not some stupid workshop in the middle of nowhere.

The tunnel opened to a blindingly white expanse. The arctic tundra-they _had_ brought him home! He was so happy he could kiss them-all but the rabbit, because reasons.

He was yanked out of the sleigh and manhandled into the coldest and clammiest hands in existence. His Pitch's hands always were so lovely...

"Kozzy..." the pet name slipped, unbidden, from his mouth and he distantly heard a scoff and muffled giggles before he was chucked into a magnificent snow mound. Jack moaned in ecstasy at the delicious cold that seeped into his bones immediately, feeling tons better from just that small amount of comfort, now able to listen partially to the conversation.

"...twenty-third already. You cannot possibly expect..."

"My best efforts will be to getting him up and about, I can assure you."

He soon faded back into sleep, curling up in the mound and humming when more was shoveled on top of him.

Eh. Whatever it was, it could wait. He was home he was nice and cold.

A white Christmas was appreciated by many people in the northern hemisphere that year. Though even in the coldest regions the most they got was a foot and a half, snow was snow. Jack wasn't at one hundred percent, but they didn't know that. Global warming, they said, was a funny thing. Pitch escorted him everywhere using the shadows, keeping him out of any sunlight at all, barely letting him walk by himself. The Guardians sent many thanks and greetings after Christmas, inviting the both of them to the New Year's party on the 31st, but both Jack and Pitch weren't sure they wanted to branch out to the other spirits in the world yet, though it had been thousands of years since either of their creations they were still the only immortals either had spent more than a few moments at a time with.

They gave a very flaky 'maybe' and made no promises except to keep Easter snow free. For now they were both content to languish in the darkness and frigidness that was their home and maybe open a few presents for themselves.

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**oh shit thats a shitty ending. certainly the longest oneshot i've ever written, but i'm not sure on the exact wordcount at this point. To clarify my headcanon:**

**Since I believe seasons would be the first thing to pop up when the world starts, needing to kick start all the growing and whatnot, I thought of course Jack would have to be one of the oldest spirits. Santa and Bunny are both from Christian holidays, so they wouldn't have come up until fairly recently; Sandy and Pitch would come about as soon as people came up because of fear and dreams; and witches stealing your body parts (ie, teeth) has been around forever so i just left Tooth as the third/fourth oldest. really sketchy on the timeline except for the beginning and end for me XD**

**what i think in this AU is that when people started popping up, Jack would have died somehow (i'll probably just keep the drowning, whatever) and then been reborn, then caused the ice age because he's totally the only season running around. Que forever filled with ice. also, i made his favorite place the bering sea because people came over on the 'land bridge' over there from russia to north america. Jack lost his memories (like in canon) and so doesn't really know why he likes that place so much, but its where he was with his family for a long time and maybe drowned there. **

**In my head Jack is like a few weeks past his 15th birthday, so whoops. Late warning: underage Jack. you can read it however you like though. I think Pitch would be about 25-8 because they didn't live too long back then. My theory is that, because they were all alone for quite a while, they got to be friends. Then, because there weren't really social norms back then about the age differences, they got together and have been together since. **

**thanks for reading. if you're confused, feel free to shoot me a pm or leave me some way to contact you in a review :3 **

**favorite, review, or follow ME, not the story XD i don't plan on it being more than a oneshot. on another note, this is basically proofread, but no beta.**


	2. Flowers of Nightmares

**i love flowers, so this prompt on the kink meme really inspired me. here's another installment.**

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Jack's hands moved in a soothing motion: up and down, floating closer and farther away from the vase like he was fluffing an invisible pillow. The tendrils of a vine started to snake out from the stem, and he hastily halted that sequence of movements. He didn't want a jungle, after all. Changing his motions to those like an orchestra conductor's, flowing this way and that, the petal finally began to expand. When the blossom was complete it was a beautiful, white, solid, and translucent near the ends of the leaves. It unfolded like a moonflower to his gentle coaxing.

The winter spirit sighed as the flower finished, stamen poking out from the center. An entire bouquet of those was difficult to make when he was at full power, but after that incident on the beach everything seemed harder. It had been nearly three years and he still wasn't back to normal. This wasn't really surprising-he had almost been completely melted when the Guardians retrieved him.

Ah well, he released another breath, moving on to the next vase. After years of refusing the invitation, Pitch and he had decided to go to Santoff Clausen for the annual Spirits' Christmas Party. It was held on Boxing Day so Santa would have time to prepare and sleep off the previous night.

The problem wasn't that they were going-it was important to make friends even after all the years of no communication-but that Pitch had _only told him this morning that they were going_. The party was in two days. Which meant that Jack had to make at least enough bouquets for the hosts of the party.

After the lovely ranunculus flowers were placed in their vase (even more draining, holy crap) he sat down for a rest. His pillow seat in the atrium sat below a large wall. Every few feet on the wall was another seat set into the countertop where his flowers sat, everything below the bright sun shining through the expanse of windows that made up the upper part of said wall. Outside the snow was thick, as usual in the arctic, and would nearly blind anyone else who looked outside. Pitch would never come inside during the day, which explained why he hadn't been to see him yet.

The wind came in through the opened jalousie windows, blowing freezing air onto his creations. That was good. They didn't have chance of melting, anyway, because though he and Pitch had a fireplace, they never used it. They preferred the freezing temperature of their home. Jack had wanted picture windows originally, or those lovely Chinese ornate ones with all the spirals and gilt or wrought iron, but his partner had always had a thing for those Italians and the Venetian style of the jalousie was his piece in the room.

Oh how time flies. The sun was going down when Jack's eyes reopened from their 'resting' position. That meant that soon Pitch would be leaving for the night-maybe he could convince him to take Jack with him.

The orange light of a dying day made his flowers look red, and some shone violet in the corners. They were oh so pretty; he almost hated that he was giving them away. They had taken so long to create, so much energy and care put into each little petal and every fragile leaf.

Jack walked over to the last of the vases, the fifth one, and started to fill it with Pitch's favorite flower. The Helleborus was just perfect, really. Even its name said 'Winter Dreams Black'. It was violet-black in its natural form, but Jack would have to have Pitch give his special flowers a special touch before they became even remotely similar. They were very delicate, but one of his tougher flowers once done. Their petals curved lusciously upward when he made them, searching for sunlight they didn't actually need.

A draft flowed through the room, ruffling his hair but doing hardly much else to the spirit of winter. Jack felt more than saw the Nightmare King coming up behind him, wrapping his arms around him. Though they were wrapped loosely, Jack knew he wouldn't be able to twist away from his mate. He mostly ignored Pitch until the flowers were complete, the sun having disappeared moment before.

Grey fingers reached out and gently touched the petals of each flower, spreading glorious blackness throughout the flowers in all the right places. When the coloring was done, Jack turned around and smiled at Pitch, finally setting his hands on the other's lone one resting on his hip.

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**review/favorite/follow and stuff if you like :) check out the meme and fill something! there are so many good prompts that are just sitting untouched.**


	3. Castles in the Ice

Jack Frost was little.

This trait of the winter sprite was what had first caught Kozmotis' attention. Flying through the air at night-new moon, black and dark and frightening-he'd noticed that the snowflakes of that particular area, the North American plains, were especially sparkly. Their flawless white gleam shined in the night even without the bright light of the moon to set it off.

Then, looking down from the back of his nightmare, Pitch had seen the prettiest winter flower. Not a literal flower like Jack made nowadays for him, but a smiling, wicked face upturned to watch him pass by. Jack had been so small, his staff towered over him. In the millenia since they had first met, his body had never changed. He was still a young man, not yet had his first shave. Where Pitch came from, girls of his age had been engaged or even married by that time in their life, boys would sometimes wait a little longer but usually were already thinking of marriage.

His first thoughts about Jack had been mildly innappropriate. He had thought originally on becoming what he was that courting another male was... well, wrong. He had shunned the idea of even looking at the young man again, instead he avoided him at all costs. For nearly two hundred years he stayed away, hoping against hope that the spirit of winter would leave him alone.

Eventually, his thoughts would wander to the shabbily dressed boy. His fingers would run through the imaginary hair, white as snow, and kiss those lips, the faintest blue you could imagine... He had to return.

Finding the embodiment of winter was easier said than done.

Pitch roamed the earth, skating across the countryside and only tormenting a few hundred or so souls along the way. Everywhere he went was in the throes of bleak winter, but he was looking for the glittering mass that came with the first batch of snowflakes that had hit him in the face.

Why... _why_ was it so hard to find him?

And then... he wasn't looking anymore. He stopped. Maybe the child had disappeared with weakness of disbelief. Maybe the lovely Miss Nature had done away with him, because there was no way Lunanoff had made that creature. Whatever the cause of his disappearance, Pitch couldn't find him. If only he hadn't waited so long to make a move. If only-

And a snowball hit him in the face.

"Hey! Tall, dark, and gruesome! Up here!"

He looked up, the full moon's light coming from behind Frost and creating a sort of halo effect. He really was the most beautiful thing Pitch had ever seen.

Years later, after so many more spirits had been born and they no longer roamed the earth alone together and had each went through a number of names (Jokul, Jack; Bogeyman and... well that's it), they still had not tired of each other's presence. Living in the cold arctic, it was hard to imagine that Pitch had once lived alone and in a grand palace below the earth. Actually, not so much a palace as a series of tunnels and large rooms.

The literal palace they lived in together had taken nearly fifty years to carve out. Every minute worth it, though, and especially when Jack took off for a year in 1816 and wreaked havoc all around was hysterical.

Even moreso was his reaction when he returned to find their home nearly complete-and with large, spooky alterations to the exterior.

**i've been off the map for a while. sorry about that ;P no excuses, really, just life. and procrastination. i appreciate all the favorites, follows, etc that everyone's been sending my way. all the kind words just make me so happy. i hope you guys had a good Easter, Lent, St. Patrick's day... all the holidays i've been gone lol. Thanks for the continued support, i appreciate and love every bit of it that comes my way and i hope you like this choppy little piece. Old!Jack and slightly-younger!Pitch is what I like :3**


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